Witnesses to greatness

Wednesday

May 20, 2009 at 12:01 AM

Great sports teams can be measured by the statistics they rack up. The measure of a great champion, though, is something more.

Great sports teams can be measured by the statistics they rack up. The measure of a great champion, though, is something more.The Dunnellon Tigers won the Class 4A state softball championship on Saturday, beating nationally ranked Lake Wales, 3-1.The championship was the culmination of a spectacular 32-1 season that featured 23 shutout victories - with one stretch of 10 straight - and double-digit margins of victory in half their games. The Tigers outscored their opponents 343-17 over the course of the season, and a stunning 50-1 in five championship-run playoff games. Calling their dominance overwhelming is an understatement.Great teams, of course, are made up of great players. Again, look at the numbers and it is apparent that coach Kevin Fagan's squad is special. Every one in the starting lineup finished the season hitting at least .300. The team's top two hitters - sisters Sami and Kasey Fagan, Kevin's daughters - batted .683 and .600, respectively, and as a team the Dunnellon girls had a sterling .454 average. The team's pitching ace, Kasey Fagan, pitched 150 innings and recorded 265 strikeouts, and she gave up just eight earned runs. That's for the season. Remarkable.Now that Dunnellon is the undisputed No. 1 softball team in Florida - across all classifications - a new statistic has entered the conversation: Where do the Tigers rank among the nation's best teams? Could they be the best in the land? Arguably, yes. Before the state tournament, the Tigers were No. 7 in one national poll and No. 16 in another.Being a champion, though, is about far more than strikeouts and shutouts. It is about school pride and community pride as much as team pride. When the Tigers won Saturday, the community won as much as the team did because these girls are a product of the Dunnellon community. Most of the Tigers have been playing softball together for most of their childhoods. And coach Fagan, a former defensive end for the University of Miami and later the San Francisco 49ers football teams, has nurtured them from beginners to champions, teaching them what it takes to have the heart of a champion. Along the way, the community got to witness something special as the team evolved as players and people.Dunnellon High physical education teacher Valerie Bazarte summed it up for the Star-Banner:"There is a sense of unbelievable pride because the community is so small and everybody knows everybody. ... These girls played together all those years. It's pretty special to see them make it all the way to the state championship."Pretty special, indeed.Congratulations to the Dunnellon High Tigers softball team for bringing home their school's first state championship in 23 years. Dunnellon and all of Marion County should be proud of these young women. They represent us well - as individuals, as a team, as champions.The chance to be a part of greatness comes along only a few, fleeting times in a lifetime. The Dunnellon Tigers just let us all share one of those moments. For that, we are proud and grateful.Tigers are No. 1 - indisputably so.